SCGHhttp://www.scgh.com
It Begins Where You LiveTue, 26 Apr 2016 19:47:04 +0000en-UShourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.6.1Patient Money Commits to Clean Energy Researchhttp://www.scgh.com/uncategorized/patient-money-commits-to-clean-energy-research/
http://www.scgh.com/uncategorized/patient-money-commits-to-clean-energy-research/#respondSat, 05 Dec 2015 00:45:05 +0000//scgh.wpengine.com/?p=18173LOS ANGELES – So today Bill Gates and a bevy of billionaires pledged their financial support to fund deeper research on climate change. This is a noble gesture and sorely needed…but also perhaps more than a day late and many dollars short. Lord knows I and many other climate change pundits are thrilled that Mr. Gates and his tech mogul colleagues have taken the initiative to use the Paris climate change talks as a rallying point to announce this potentially ground-breaking research. Gates’s examples of a new type of battery that will one-up lithium ion; a revolutionary solar paint that can make almost any surface

]]>LOS ANGELES – So today Bill Gates and a bevy of billionaires pledged their financial support to fund deeper research on climate change. This is a noble gesture and sorely needed…but also perhaps more than a day late and many dollars short.

Lord knows I and many other climate change pundits are thrilled that Mr. Gates and his tech mogul colleagues have taken the initiative to use the Paris climate change talks as a rallying point to announce this potentially ground-breaking research. Gates’s examples of a new type of battery that will one-up lithium ion; a revolutionary solar paint that can make almost any surface a solar panel; and a new process that makes fuel directly from sunlight are all potentially game changers that can save and/or produce huge amounts of electricity and reduce carbon emissions overnight –if and when they come to fruition in the commercial marketplace. Gates makes no false promises, as he clearly indicates these and other big ideas that the billionaire bankrolls will be used to fund could take 10 years, if not longer, to reach the marketplace in a viable commercial package.

To me, here is the real significance of this announcement: in previous years, you have heard the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation announce initiatives to address shortcomings in education, disease-fighting and other basic necessities in the developing world. Now, he has personally stepped up and without saying exactly this, endorsed what most of us green folks have been saying for years – if we don’t get a handle on the climate change issue and quickly, all the other noble philanthropic initiatives could be moot. As in, we only have one planet, and if we don’t save it, then why bother with all the rest of the do-gooding?

So to all of us who are enlightened and have been for some years, please take a moment to be pleased with this announcement and the public recognition by the world’s tech business leaders that climate change is no laughing matter. Talk this up on social media to your circles of influence including friends, family and business colleagues. The idea of business and government joining together to really get serious about climate change is great news and should be treated as such.

Also noteworthy is that while these donations to the cause will be in the form of investments, as in, there could be a sizable return if even one of them hits, they are really more like philanthropy because of the uncertain nature of the results and the very long horizon before a return would be recognized.

Remember the Sean Parker character in “Social Network,” ably played by Justin Timberlake? Think of the epic luncheon he has with Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg). Parker challenges Zuckerberg to aim high, to shoot for the moon, to want to change the world, “not just build a chain of yogurt stores.” That is what Bill Gates has done here…he has challenged his tech titan friends to lay out some serious do re mi that can be used to incentivize and motivate the world’s top scientists to devote themselves to helping to solve the energy equation. By doing so, there will undoubtedly be some major innovations that emerge. The question is when…?

In the meantime, here’s hoping that this is not just a highlight day that quickly is forgotten. Past climate change conferences have been mostly unproductive. Let us all keep the faith that this time, the bizarre weather patterns and the damage they have inflicted…the rising sea levels and threats to sea life and islanders that have already been manifested…the carbon pollution that is killing thousands every year…is enough of a clear and present danger to focus the true money and power in this world on addressing climate change before it is truly too late.

Stay tuned, I will provide a final analysis after the conference is completed at www.SCGH.com.

]]>http://www.scgh.com/uncategorized/patient-money-commits-to-clean-energy-research/feed/0How to Choose the Right Light Bulb for Your Homehttp://www.scgh.com/go-green/electronics/how-to-choose-the-right-light-bulb-for-your-home/
Fri, 02 Oct 2015 14:21:26 +0000//scgh.wpengine.com/?p=18107Sometimes we forget that choosing the right light for our home can be just as important as choosing the correct paint color. In fact, without light, color wouldn’t be much to look at. While light is a necessity in every home, the type of bulb you select can have a dramatic effect on how rooms are accentuated – or left dark, dull, or even dirty. That’s why assessing how light affects color is so important. HDSupply created this illustrated table showing how choosing a bulb with a higher or a lower rating can change the ambiance of a room from

]]>Sometimes we forget that choosing the right light for our home can be just as important as choosing the correct paint color. In fact, without light, color wouldn’t be much to look at.

While light is a necessity in every home, the type of bulb you select can have a dramatic effect on how rooms are accentuated – or left dark, dull, or even dirty. That’s why assessing how light affects color is so important.

HDSupply created this illustrated table showing how choosing a bulb with a higher or a lower rating can change the ambiance of a room from cool and chic to relaxing or even romantic.

In a nutshell, the correlated color temperature (CCT) of the light emitted from the bulb is expressed in Kelvin. For instance, lower color temperatures (2,000K to 3,000K) emit a warmer light while higher temperatures (>4,000K) radiate a cooler light.

The interactive color temperature scale below will save you time when deciding on the bulbs for your home. Be sure to make a note of the watt + Kelvin combination that creates your preferred color temperature.

]]>Water, Water Everywhere, Nor Any Drop to Drink….http://www.scgh.com/featured/green-news/water-water-everywhere-drop-drink/
http://www.scgh.com/featured/green-news/water-water-everywhere-drop-drink/#respondMon, 23 Jun 2014 21:13:08 +0000//scgh.wpengine.com/?p=17737Californians hope to avoid a desolate future with the development of desalination systems across the state.

Californians hope to avoid a desolate future with the development of desalination systems across the state. Photo by Bruce Rolff.

SANTA BARBARA, CA — And so goes the Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner, the iconic tome by Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Of course, it refers to a seaman who is adrift with no supplies. How fitting, then, that we apply this life lesson to the current situation in Santa Barbara, if not the entire Southwestern U.S.

The media has finally awakened to what many of us have been banging the drum about for months – to borrow from the 1972 Albert Hammond pop tune, “It Never Rains In Southern California.” In essence, this has caused a drought we have not seen in decades, as detailed in my previous articles, Red, White, and Waterless and Squeezing Water From a Rock. So let’s look at Santa Barbara as a microcosm of what could happen in many cities throughout the country if we don’t do something about it, and quickly.

From a variety of research and interviews I conducted with experts on weather patterns and climate trends, one central theme emerges: we as a society need to prepare now for the possibility that this drought will continue indefinitely. While not probable, at least we hope not, it is most definitely a possibility. Life must go on, and to sustain it we need clean water for everyone. Regardless of whether it rains.

“I have been here since 1964, and the climate today is very different than it was in those days,” explained Tom Mosby, General Manager of the Montecito Water District. “The succession used to be two weeks of fog, then four or five days of warm, sunny conditions. Now, it seems that the inverse is true. No rain is a huge problem for us.” Montecito is the tiny, toney town that lies adjacent to Santa Barbara, populated mostly by wealthy retirees and those escaping L.A. in search of solitude and open space. Oprah’s famous $50 million estate lies within the Montecito city limits. “Our water conservation plan now includes water rationing which has been very successful. We believe the majority of our customers are checking their water meters daily to track allocation,” Mosby said.

Montecito has very limited groundwater, equivalent to less than 7% of its annual water supply which has compounded its water shortage problem. The District’s reliance on surface water reservoirs, coupled with below average rainfall led to the declaration of a water shortage emergency on February 11. If it doesn’t rain during fall/winter 2014-15, a stage 4 (they are currently in stage 3) state of emergency could be declared which would mean little to no water for outdoor landscaping.

The Santa Barbara area has been a leader in water conservation, as its residents have been very responsible about decreasing water consumption in recent years. So much so, in fact, that in an ironic twist, the local water districts may have to raise their rates again – this time by 100 percent – because revenues are down dramatically. A vicious cycle? Perhaps yes, and one that could be repeated in any geographic area that is short on water but successful in persuading homeowners to cut usage. Thus, we face yet another quandary in going green which only frustrates the consumer trying to do the right thing.

The City of Santa Barbara did have the foresight to plan, design and break ground on a desalination plant back in 1991. Fortunately or unfortunately, plans to complete the plant were scrapped as the 1986-91 drought came to a dramatic end. Just recently, the City Council initiated reactivation proceedings to get the plant construction going once again. This will cost just under $30 million, and will provide enough clean water for about half of the Santa Barbara Water District’s customers.

The Carlsbad Desalination Project, seen here, is set to deliver clean drinking water to 300,000 San Diego county residents by 2016.

While the City of Santa Barbara wants to cooperate with Montecito to allow its residents to purchase water produced by the plant, a complicated situation related to approval and permitting process due to the infamous Coastal Commission may well prevent this. “We have to get desal now,” declared Darlene Bierig, President of the Montecito Water Board. Recycling wastewater is also an option but realistically, this is more suited for agricultural, landscape, golf course and cemetery water than for drinking. The conventional wisdom seems to be moving toward desal and rapidly. This, in my opinion, is one of the better arrows in our quiver if we no longer enjoy the benefits of consistent, bountiful rainfall.

With the challenges Santa Barbara’s original desalination plant faces, setting up a small-scale desalination plant is an alternative possibility in Montecito. I consulted an Israeli expert in water management, Clive Lipchin, to see if it is possible to enable Montecito to provide water for its citizens in a stand alone, self-sufficient manner. As with all new desal development, Lipchin notes, “There are infrastructure questions such as the state of the water grid and the possibility of easily inserting the desalination plant into the grid. Other issues include the best site for such a plant and its proximity to the coast, the location of the brine outfall, the current cost of water and electricity, and environmental regulations.” Considering the factors, Lipchin suggests a small-scale desalination plant could be built faster and cheaper than waiting for City of Santa Barbara. “There are options to build a desal plant in a modular configuration with construction costs ranging from $5-10 million. Israel has done this successfully for small communities in Cyprus and Malta.”

“Water banking” is another idea that Santa Barbara has cooked up to deal with the current shortages, according to Santa Barbara Acting Water Resources Manager, Joshua Haggmark. “Water banking is the practice of foregoing water deliveries during certain periods, and banking either the right to use the unused water in the future, or saving it for someone else to use in exchange for a fee or delivery in-kind,” explains Jasper Womach, Agricultural Policy Specialist for the Congressional Research Service. “It is best used where there is significant storage capacity to facilitate such transfers of water.”

In my view, that could be helpful but will not solve the water shortage. A massive, ongoing source of clean water to replace Mother Nature’s downpours is desperately needed. Just last month, the L.A. Times and USC’s Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences conducted a poll of 1,500 registered voters. Results showed that 89 percent of respondents agree that the drought is a major problem or even a crisis. An encouraging 75 percent believe the state should invest in desalination of ocean water for household use. This support was consistent across demographic groups, with 48 percent strongly in favor and 26 percent somewhat in favor.

Let’s head about 200 miles south, to the beach town of Carlsbad which is located in North County San Diego. As we speak, SoCal’s only large desal plant is being constructed. The plant will create enough fresh water to serve 300,000 area residents. “We are developers and owners of the project,” said Peter MacLaggan, Senior VP of Poseidon Water, the contractor who is building the plant which is projected to come online in 2016. “The project has been in development for 12 years, as the approval process began in 2003 and ended in 2009. Six long years. After the permits, we worked with the San Diego County Water Authority to get the contracts in place, and then we raised $734 million through a bond issue, along with $167 million in private equity,” explained MacLaggan. This is probably typical of what a large desal plant would require – about a billion dollars, and about 10 years if not longer.

The Carlsbad desalination plant will be able to produce 1 gallon of freshwater for every 2 gallons of seawater it intakes.

Key environmental issues associated with desal plants are first and foremost, the intake portion of the process and its effect upon larval fish eggs, and secondly, expulsion of the brine or salt back into the ocean. While larger fish will be able to swim away from the intake ducts, microscopic fish and plankton that are vital to the underwater food chain can be damaged by the desal process. In addition, a tremendous amount of power is required to run the plant, thus use of fossil fuels vs. renewable energy is a critical discussion. Oceana’s California Campaign Director, Dr. Geoff Shester, stresses, “Turning seawater into drinking water requires massive amounts of energy and poses risks to an already stressed ocean ecosystem, as the salty brine byproducts fundamentally disrupt the ocean’s delicate chemical balance. Relying on desalination as an alternative water source fails to solve the underlying problem that California’s inefficient use of water is outstripping our water supply, while creating a wide suite of new risks to our ocean which we don’t yet fully comprehend.”

Desal plants cannot be built offshore because the efficiency of production becomes significantly lower. Another issue is this: land, extremely valuable coastal land at that, will be needed to build more desal plants. Thus years of lawsuits and ultimately, use of eminent domain by the state may be required to secure key sites for a network of desal plants that can produce enough water to support highly populated Southern California. “The next desalination project will be easier because decisions and precedents are already set,” added MacLaggan. Hopefully he is right about this.

As you can probably tell, I am a huge proponent of desalination as part of the answer to our water problems. As I sit here in my hotel room in Tel Aviv, I quaff a tasty glass of desal water. Not to mention, I washed my hair this morning and noticed the sheen and texture is actually better than washing my hair with Nevada or SoCal water. While admittedly there are environmental issues to deal with, this reminds me of the debate about wind power generated by turbines located in the desert. Some of our leading environmental watchdog NGOs are constantly banging the drum about the need for renewable energy, but then they question wind farms because they are visually unattractive and might affect the mating patterns of the snail darter. Similarly, ocean preservation advocates need to get real about the need for desal plants as a partial fix for inadequate rainfall. Fortunately, we’re quickly witnessing an advancement of technology to minimize environmental impacts, as showcased in Damian Palin’s TED Talk, Mining Minerals From Seawater. Palin proposes an innovative solution using bacteria to extract heavy metals from the toxic brine, thus minimizing pollutants that reenter the seawater and creating what Palin describes as “a new mining industry that is in harmony with nature.”

Given the lead time required to plan, approve, design and build these plants, we are already way behind and crisis may occur before enough of them come on stream – not only in Southern California but anywhere with a coastline that is short of fresh water. Let’s take a cue from Israel, which has developed a network of desal plants that produce enough water to keep the admittedly tiny desert nation supplied indefinitely with zero rainfall. It is time right now to move past the conversation, debates and wishful thinking. Oceans make up 71 percent of the earth’s surface, so we know there IS enough salt water to meet our desal needs. We need to be building desal plants yesterday, throughout the world, to ensure fresh drinking water for all. Please help the cause by explaining this to your family, friends, legislators, and the media.

]]>http://www.scgh.com/featured/green-news/water-water-everywhere-drop-drink/feed/0A New Champion At The Weather Channel Answers All You Want To Know About The Weather But Were Afraid To Askhttp://www.scgh.com/featured/insider-interviews/new-champion-weather-channel-answers-want-know-weather-afraid-ask/
http://www.scgh.com/featured/insider-interviews/new-champion-weather-channel-answers-want-know-weather-afraid-ask/#respondSun, 22 Jun 2014 17:53:43 +0000//scgh.wpengine.com/?p=17553Sam Champion of The Weather Channel answers your important weather questions.

No, Sam Champion is not just another handsome talking head. To prove it, he has taken the bold step of leaving perhaps the #1 weatherperson position in the world at ABC’s Good Morning America to become Managing Editor at The Weather Channel. His new show is called AMHQ, for America’s Morning Headquarters. It is an amalgam of news, sports, lifestyle, and of course, weather forecasting and reporting, running each weekday from 7-10 a.m. ET. From a journalistic integrity standpoint, I should say upfront that I am a Sam Champion fan. I appeared on his “Just One Thing” environmental segment on GMA several times in previous years. A new executive producer did away not only with that segment, but essentially all reporting on environmental subjects. While he won’t comment on that, I suspect this is one of a number of reasons that Sam elected to move on from GMA. Champion is an Emmy and Peabody award winner who is a serious weatherman and proud of it. “I’m going to be a hypocrite here. I want to wake up every morning with my feet on the sand, 20 steps from the ocean. If I am not by the beach, I am not a whole person. But I realize it’s not a safe place to build or locate a community. We have allowed people to make incredible amounts of money off of our desire to live on the beach. Unfortunately, we’ve not thought about how (beaches) are the natural protectors for everything behind them.” This is Sam Champion, admitting his own preferences but trying to educate us on the power of weather patterns and how they can endanger our lives. In this case, he refers to rebuilding on the same spot after natural disasters, be it Hurricane Sandy or the Asian tsunami. Here’s what Champion has to say about the Southern California/Southwestern U.S. drought, and its ramifications, such as last week’s San Diego wildfires: “We have to stop being surprised. I am so @#$%^&* tired of people being surprised. We should not be surprised when areas that have seen drought before experience it again. We should not be surprised that towns previously leveled by hurricanes will be leveled again. I’m so tired of us being surprised. While I understand that (the beach is) one of the most desirable places for people to feel connected to the world and at peace, we should not allow people to rebuild after a disaster. I understand why we are torn on this, but we have to think ahead for others. We have to make sure people are safe….” Indeed, Sam Champion is passionate about climate change and its ramifications. He is very concerned about water shortages in coming decades. He has the courage to say what we are just now beginning to understand about where we should be vs. where we are on alternate water sources. “We are horribly prepared (for drought in the Southwest). If we were, we would have several options available to get people water. We are still relying on watersheds, snow melts, and rain. If you live in a coastal area and have not made desalination options available to your community because of money, energy requirements or other factors…if you don’t have a “B” choice for water, that is just wrong. That is not politics, either, that is reality.” I explained to Sam that I recently visited Israel, where they have perfected the art of providing desalinized drinking water for all at a fair price point. His comment: “California, and many other parts of the world, could learn a lot from the Israelis when it comes to preparing for perpetual drought conditions.” The 52-year-old Kentucky native faces the reality that the Southwest could be in for an ongoing drought unlike anything we are used to. “We are just now beginning to understand global weather patterns. We used to think of weather locally, but it is truly anything but – it’s a global thing. We are still trying to figure out El Nino and La Ninas. If an El Nino occurs, it can mean X for this region and Y for that one. You are not looking just at warming water temperatures. To say California will be in a period of ongoing drought, I don’t know that anyone can say for certain. But I don’t see a lot of help coming to change this situation. If we have not figured out a way to handle the drought over the past 25 years, we have a problem.” About Sam’s new show. How was it going from GMA to AMHQ? “We created a show that is hyper informative because I saw there was a different audience. The new audience is 24-hour informed. They are following stories, news, websites, they have alerts on their smartphones. The Weather Channel is built to work on a 24-hour news cycle. We are adjusting to the new pace of information. Facebook, Twitter, we are dealing with a news cycle being right now, this minute. AMHQ is sequenced to this pace. We have the most live shots of tornadoes. We were in Pensacola, Florida for the floods, California for the fires, Minnesota for cold air and snow, and those are just the live shots.” Champion, who married his partner, Rubem Robierb, in 2012, does not see it as his responsibility to convince the climate change deniers of their shortsightedness. “It’s not my job to change minds. Growing up as a journalist and being in the news business for 30 years, it’s only my job to talk about the facts as they are presented. When scientists present facts, we report them. When disasters happen, we deal in statistics and stories about the people who are affected, and follow it all the way through recovery. I don’t need to be political and don’t want to push anyone’s agenda. There are people who want to mitigate climate change and others who want to make money on the topic. I am here to do neither. My goal is to help people understand their environment, and get to a safe place as needed. If you move to the tornado belt, you need to know the risks. If you live in California, you need to know about the drought and the potential dangers because of it. I try to help people understand this so they can take necessary steps to protect themselves from weather-related disasters. Many people assume that if you encounter a tornado and you are in a car, you should jump out and lay down in a ditch.” According to Champion, this is really an old wive’s tale. He says being inside your car is far safer than lying in a ditch. Not surprisingly, Champion likes the focus on weather as opposed to all types of news. “It was a pleasant surprise to have people approach me to say this is a show they are proud to have their children watch while getting ready for school. It’s a smart show. The kids are learning about weather and other important news but not murders and beatings. That stuff is eye candy designed to keep you glued to your TV, but it is not necessarily information you truly need to know. I certainly did not design a kids show, but it’s nice to have moms tell us they feel great about having our show on with the kids in the room.” Champion enjoys scuba diving as a hobby, and not surprisingly, relates what he sees back to weather and climate change. “When you dive for the first time and see coral reefs, come back again three years later and they are gone or bleached due to ocean acidification, you become concerned and want to share that with people. I’m tired of the pushback because I’m not a part of the conspiracy. I’m just sharing with you what I observe.” (Some of you may recall my earlier column entitled “Diving With The Dream Team” in which I report the exact same phenomenon.) Sam’s recommendation for what we do going forward to combat the adverse effects of climate change and their impact upon our weather personifies his practical, no-nonsense approach to climate change and how the weather is reported. “Here are things we can do together to deal with issues that are very real. You can debate the cause, but let’s come together for the solution.”

]]>http://www.scgh.com/featured/insider-interviews/new-champion-weather-channel-answers-want-know-weather-afraid-ask/feed/0Squeezing Water From A Rockhttp://www.scgh.com/go-green/water/squeezing-water-rock/
http://www.scgh.com/go-green/water/squeezing-water-rock/#respondFri, 20 Jun 2014 19:30:39 +0000//scgh.wpengine.com/?p=17522If orange is the new black, then water is the new oil. Here's what Israel is doing about it.

If orange is the new black, then water is the new oil. That said, the stakes are much higher than even a prison sentence. Some may recall my piece in honor of the 4th of July, 2013 entitled “Red, White and Waterless.” In it, I expressed deep concerns about the extended drought in the Western U.S. Some readers critiqued me for stating the obvious. I think those naysayers were part of the small but mighty choir that most of us environmental do-gooders preach to. The challenge at hand is to convince the greater population that water should be as highly prized as gasoline, if not more so. After all, you won’t find fossil fuels on Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.

The reason I call this column “Squeezing Water From a Rock” is that I recently returned from a place that comes just short of this ultimate alchemy — Israel, a small strip of desert, with no water or oil. Not an ideal place to build an agricultural oasis. But that is exactly what the Israeli water conservationists have accomplished.

I lived in Israel this past winter, working on my Fulbright Grant at Arava Institute for Environmental Studies. My assignment was to teach sessions on “The Economics of Water as a Basic Human Right” and “The Feasibility of Small Sustainable Solutions for Marginalized People.” The latter focused on the plentiful, small waste water solutions found throughout the Negev desert and the West Bank. The Israeli Foreign Ministry funds a program called MASHAV which hosts environmental professionals from all over the developing world — including Myanmar, Thailand, Cameroon, Ghana, Guyana, Bolivia, Nepal, Serbia, Bosnia and China, among others — to learn about best practices in water management. Representatives from these varied nations descend upon Kibbutz Qetura to learn the “secret sauce” that turned Israel from water scarce to a desert oasis.

Before I delve into a “Water 101” discourse, just a word about the Kibbutz. This was my first experience in Israel and I think the Kibbutz represents their success as a people — based on a utopian model of living, Kibbutz’s are agricultural communes (many have industry too, as in Qetura) in which everyone pitches in their fair share to keep the community tidy and pool everyone’s income for the greater good. I also had opportunity to learn from leading experts in the world about water conservation and options to deal with scarcity. Israeli scientists and engineers use a very sophisticated blend of desalinization plants, wastewater recycling, drip water irrigation (the Israelis invented this technology which is now used worldwide), leak detection technologies and other pioneering techniques to bring a Garden of Eden to this dry, hot, arid piece of desert. As former Israeli Ambassador to France and Board Member of Arava Institute, Daniel Shek, so eloquently stated, “Israel can live without rain. It is better if it does rain but it doesn’t have to.”

The Israelis desalinate over 500 million cubic meters (one cubic meter equals 264 gallons) of fresh water per year, or 60,000 cubic meter per hour. Over 30 percent of Israel’s drinking water comes from desalinization plants that transform salty Mediterranean Sea water to fresh, drinkable final product that rivals New York City’s prized tap water in taste, purity and smoothness. The desalination process from intake to completion requires only 20 minutes. I visited Ashkelon, Israel’s $300 million plus desalination plant which produces clean drinking water for 50 cents U.S. per cubic meter — the lowest cost in the world for desalinated water. Israel has centralized its wastewater and desalination distribution systems, which are managed by public-private partnerships overseen by the government. I was fortunate to catch up with Abraham Tenne, Head of Desalination for the Israeli Water Ministry and he stated,

As long as you have an ocean and you treat the saltwater, you can use it. Desalination is the answer everywhere. Population is growing, over seven billion people on this planet now and nine billion expected by 2050. Existing water resources are tapped. Desalination combined with waste water treatment and conservation are no longer optional.

Of course, desalinization is not necessarily a be-all-end-all solution. It requires massive amounts of electricity and/or fossil fuels to run the plants. Another conundrum of using desalination for irrigation is that farmers don’t like water that has been cleansed of all its minerals including the salt. Also, boron is present in desalination, which can inhibit plant growth.

Exporting this knowhow and expertise could potentially spread goodwill throughout the world for Israel. Larry Gross, a Venture Capitalist in Southern California who is also an expert on native Israeli technology, commented on this concept. “Israel’s Prime Minister Netanyahu visited the (U.S.) West Coast this past March. This was the first time in eight years the Israeli Prime Minister has visited California, and when he met with Governor Jerry Brown, the subject matter at hand was adjusting to long-standing drought conditions.” This is but one example of how Israel might help itself in the court of public opinion through its knowledge of water conservation.

Israel’s fresh water challenges — actually the entire Mideast except Lebanon is considered water scarce — are many. Supply erodes while demand grows. Climate change has impacted water supply: since 1997, water availability has dropped from 1.17B cubic meters to 870M cubic meters, according to Arava Institute’s water management specialist, Clive Lipchin.

Admittedly, Israel is thimble-sized at only 263 miles long and 71 miles at its widest point. Thus managing a nationalized grid system, and building the infrastructure needed to process and transport the water there is far simpler than it would be in the U.S. And it should be noted, there are virtually no private water rights in Israel. That said, we can still learn from the example set by Israel. Water is treated as a truly precious resource, and the clear and strong national policy makes it possible to provide water at low, low prices even in the midst of a desert.

Abraham Tenne astutely observed,

This year was the driest winter ever in Israel — same with California; however, Israel had foresight and prepared for these conditions by optimizing desalination, wastewater, and conservation practices. California was busy for 15 years contemplating whether desalination was a viable option, they lost valuable time. They are finally addressing desalination at a meaningful level in Carlsbad, California. Although, they will need 10X this amount of desalinized water to meet demand. California was late to the party.

I also observed firsthand an almost rabid devotion to wastewater recycling and reuse. Nearly 90 percent of Israel’s domestic sewage is treated, mostly at monolithic facilities in the Dan region just south of Tel Aviv. Wastewater is processed, treated, and reused for irrigation. I think we Californians and Nevadans can learn something from this. Israel is gradually replacing fresh water with treated wastewater for agricultural purposes (today around 50 percent of water for irrigation is fresh water, whereas in most parts of the world, including in the U.S. it is 70 percent and above). It would be wise for us to pursue this practice here in the U.S. not to mention other countries facing similar realities. It is hard to comprehend that more countries do not embrace this practice. Spain is a distant second with recycling 18 percent of their wastewater; the U.S. is at one percent.

Water efficiency is also high in Israel, only 10 percent lost through pipes; neighbors like Syria and Lebanon lose around 50 percent through pipes; the U.S. loses 15 percent through old infrastructure. London also loses around 50 percent due to outdated infrastructure although Israeli companies like TaKaDu, a company that specializes in identifying existing and future leaks in infrastructure, are helping to resolve this age old problem.

So we and others could use some help from Israel. But would we and other water scarce countries be willing to accept their patronage? Does the nature of water, our very life source, transcend the polarizing politics of the Middle East? Is it possible that this life and death issue can supersede politics and prejudice? While this remains to be seen, all I know is that without viable solutions to this problem, the next century could be ripe for military conflict around water rights. This is why i say that water is the new oil, the only difference being it takes a lot of water to process a barrel of oil. Perhaps we are in store for a new type of peace process, one that considers transfer of knowledge regarding water practices? Shek concurred, “this is already occurring but mostly behind closed doors, countries asking for help may not publicize their relationship with Israel, however, we are hopeful that through sharing best practices, water can become a tool for peace, after all, our lives depend on it.”

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]]>Genetically Misunderstood Organisms – The Debate Rages On…http://www.scgh.com/posts/genetically-misunderstood-organisms-debate-rages-2/
Wed, 18 Jun 2014 17:03:20 +0000//scgh.wpengine.com/?p=17620Join Jennifer Schwab as she consults experts in the field and takes a harder look at the truth about GMOs.

Keeping your bathroom beautiful means more than just grabbing the disinfectant and a sponge. It also requires routine maintenance to prevent water damage from occurring.

Not only is water damage expensive to repair, it’s downright ugly. Mold, mildew, and rot that lurks in corners, surrounds faucet bases, and covers walls and tiles looks dirty. Can you really feel clean taking a bath or shower surrounded by the symptoms of water damage?

Toilets

To prevent water damage from a faulty or overflowing toilet, it’s important to routinely check your toilet’s functionality every six months. The things you should check look for are…

The flushing mechanism: The fill valve should shut off when the float reaches the appropriate water level. If, however, the tank runs when not in use, you need to replace the flapper, fill valve, or both.

The supply line: Make sure the valve is working properly by operating it to make sure the water supply shuts off. If not, replace it. If your toilet ever overflows, you’ll want to be able to shut off the water immediately.

A shower pan is placed under your shower’s tiles to prevent leaking. To make sure it’s doing its job, test the shower pan each year.

Start by blocking the shower’s drain. Next, fill the shower with about an inch of water. Mark the water’s line using a pencil and let it sit for 8 hours. If the water stays at the marked line, your shower pan is working fine. However, if the water level decreases, you’ll need to call a plumber. Otherwise, you’ll eventually suffer water damage under your shower floor and it probably won’t be covered by insurance.

Keep in mind that homeowners insurance doesn’t cover water damage that has occurred over time. This is because it is the homeowner’s responsibility to maintain their homes in order to prevent water damage in the first place.

It’s also important to inspect the grout and tile around your shower and immediately repair it if you find cracks in your tile or grout coming loose.

Sinks

While a leaky faucet is a waste of money and annoying, it can easily be fixed by replacing the washer and doesn’t necessarily cause water damage. Faulty plumbing under the sink, however, is a common culprit of water damage.

Be sure to inspect the plumbing under your sink every 6 months. Look for secured and unsecured connections as well as corrosion and kinks on the plumbing’s surface. Also, inspect the shut off valve by running the sink’s faucet and then shutting off the valve to make sure the water stops. Replace if needed.

By following this simple guide and inspecting these three main areas of your bathroom from one to two times per year, chances are you’ll not only prevent water damage, but you’ll also keep your bathroom looking beautiful.

In recent decades, the monumental cause of conservation and global economic growth have seemed, at times, incompatible. Important, philosophical debates have characterized these discussions, and now beckon the attention of every facet of society—private industry, government institutions, environmental NGOs, and the public. Emerging from these discussions is the overarching discipline known as Corporate Social Responsibility, and it, too, still seems to be exploring its proper place in the whole of the complex conservation-sustainability-economic development model.

The California Redwood Company (CRC), a subsidiary of the Green Diamond Resource Company, serves as one case example for its approach and effort to strike a balance between environmental stewardship and corporate practice. Green Diamond Resource Company (GDRCo) owns and manages primarily redwood lands in California that supply CRC with logs to produce lumber. As a purveyor of redwood lumber products, CRC shared with SCGH that Green Diamond has 30 full-time staff in California dedicated to conservation planning to ensure its operations provide habitat across the landscape for the species that reside there. This team studies and monitors a variety of terrestrial (land-based) and aquatic (water-based) species and their habitats across the property. One portion of the team’s studies focus on the freshwater streams of the property also called the aquatic program. Set on the North Coast of California, the forest streams on the property are the spawning ‘homes’ for various salmonid species, which have seen its hatch rates and populations decline in the Pacific Northwest during the past century.

Matt House, Aquatic Biologist for the company clearly loves his job, “We have some of the most productive salmonid streams on the North Coast of California. Studying these species, and the streams they live in, is interesting not only for the conservation department employees of the company but also to the countless other scientists that we get to work with.”

The majority of salmonid species in GDRCo’s streams are defined as anadromous, meaning they return from the ocean as adults to spawn in freshwater environments, such as the Coho, Chinook, and Steelhead salmonid species–thus their life cycle as fish mostly occurs in the ocean. Consequently, it can be challenging for researchers to comprehensively study what is affecting changes in salmonid population levels, and, as well, to determine if the freshwater spawning habitat is adequate to maintain viable salmonid populations. However, GDRCo believes it can have an important influence on its surrounding freshwater environment, and its conservation planning group is extending significant effort to ensure its practices do not negatively impact the spawning and rearing habitat for these salmonid species.

Currently, GDRCo’s conservation team is closely monitoring fish on four tributaries in the Little River watershed involving several stages throughout annual spawning cycles. First, trained fisheries biologists survey and observe the primary fish-bearing streams during the winter to count the number and species of adult fish that are seen actively spawning, as well as indicating where there is evidence of salmonid redds (nests), where eggs are deposited. These indicate that fish have already spawned in the stream. These data have been valuable to determine the relative distribution and number of adults in a watershed.

In the final research stages, population levels are estimated using traps to capture and then release smolts—juvenile fish that have become physically ready to enter the ocean environment—as they move downstream toward the ocean from their freshwater habitat. These surveys, although labor intensive and expensive to conduct, provide GDRCo’s research team valuable information for how many smolts are being produced in the freshwater environment. Comparing the survival rates between summer populations and smolts migrating to the ocean also helps determine the limiting factors for smolt survival.

Matt House sums it up like this, “These are challenging species to study because the fish spend a few years as young in the streams on our property. There we have some idea what is happening with the population and then they swim out to sea for a couple of years. That is the big unknown while they are in the ocean. A few years later they return from the ocean to spawn in the stream where they hatched and we can gather some numbers on that cohort again. In between though very little is known about what happens while they are out in the ocean.”

These monitoring efforts are part of 50-year contract with federal agencies, which took 10 years to develop to ensure protection of aquatic resources on the property. In June 2007, Green Diamond, the National Marine Fisheries Service, and the United States Fish & Wildlife Service, signed the Aquatic Habitat Conservation Plan, a 50-year contract, to enhance habitat for six cold-water fish and amphibian species.

“The company has a comprehensive monitoring program in place to study salmonid and other aquatic species on the property that was crafted with state and federal agencies. It has been a great collaboration coordinating with the agencies on these projects,” says Keith Hamm, Conservation Planning Manager for Green Diamond.